Seam protecting device for cloth shears



w. N. HADLEY May 8, 1945.`

SEAM PROTEGTING DEVCE FOR CLO'H SHEARS Filed Oct. 28. 1943 W. (gg j.

w x UNITEDLSTATES w PA E OFFICE w N t videa :to :suspend theshearng of the zeloth dm ing to delay or` complication n this operation of 'pretesting ;and ;nes'pon'dihg to the` approaeh (of the :25 foreign elerr'ent in the `cloth to utilize 'the basic 2321 482,- ;granted ;on J un 23, 943, Il hav uisis refle'c'ted from 'the surface of the 'c1oth,'withoub t by kthe ndetecfiing point, the utilzafiion u h ord'esi-red locatonih thewidth thereof, 'and pro spaced mentio 'the efiq u hwm peimififing 40 ferent fight-reecting *power "than thajtfiof the the than'sms son through` the web at the roper rest o'f `'the surface of 'the cloth in` the :zone

` cem. In this totm of deteetor, 'it is 'thsmeees or` a bit 'of Cloth, pap r o'r 'C lop n tt PatentedMa '8,1945 t f: e 2375332- 2373332 e e e t e peEAMPtoTEcTmG DEvIcEFoRcL-oTH j t\ 7 SHEARS t t e WilfnedLRHadey, Spnihgfield, Yt., assignor to Parkstand WoolsonMachine Company, Srg- V fi'e1liL`Vt.,aCorporation (e u t j t Application October 28, 1943, Serial N`.`5'0`7,951

` %laims (mea- 173 t vimzentoi welates to 'cleth -ehearing mathe or in careft'lly predetermined relation e'hines utilizmg toi-.atyshear blaes eoadting with thereto, "order to let the impulse pass `'through stati'onary l'edger :mafies to :sheer *the protr ud i'ng the traveljng webor the `pththereot. t e t\ t -fi'bers :at the surtaeehf the .oloth to a 'mfrm In modernfs'hearss hearng the c`loth` at rates level fto -f ettent, 'the `0101311 be`in'g` run `rap`i11y t .5 up to and exceeding `-4'0 yard 'per minute -a cut through the machine :and past these meeting of cloth especially when of the usual cutlengt'h medes innpen .end fiat relation, being supported of 70 yards *goes through theshear so r'apidly in relose proximty to :thehlades usualiybymeans that the 'joining ofjthe ?leading end of` the suc- :ofa ;rest sohiyssuppotmg theelothat 'thershean cee'di-n'gcut of eloth to the tan-end of the cut `ing' "point `'The `spejc'mg between this *rest and to -hg `shom intime to avoid the hecessity of stopthe shearing blades is customarly'so close tht p'ing the *sheet has beeomega, problem. For'reathe increase in thckness of 'the traveling *web 'sens of 'conveniencem l'andling,` -t seustomary caused by .the seems jonng successive'peees or to `eflect the fi'oinng of the successive outs right cutstoff *clothawil result in uouttinghnd dam'aging atthe shear hy a portable'sew ing machine whch the cl'oth or injuming the .shear'ing ibl ade ;'f a'l- &5 rap iny sttches the two `ens together-throughlowed to enter ?this n amow `:space mo 'prevent out the entire width of "the two pieces. "To keep thietnur zmanuel or :autematietmeaneeame p-o the production at maximum, all `feetors leading the pasage oT the `seem, either by *mcreasmgcthis parme amd sewng togetherfthe ends ofthe *pieoes spao'ng `or by %shopping t dr irewtersing the rotati'on 20 homd'be avdidem of rotary' 'shearng made. `When :the :means 'With 'this aim, andwth the object of avoid- 'for :thue passing :the team without cutting ;it are ing "t ei-1 0855 175701 Sittingor pun'chn he th autmat'c :in their action, they are controlled :and or of forming or w den mpiece-endtseam to 31017118558& byTeeIe-s or othercheteeting` devices deprovide *the neces ary pert r or of 'i s rt n a seem %to the rshearmg 'pdmt Andt is to this latptincip'le *of my aforesad patexts of transmttng ter :class of automatic wseam-protectisg` mchah impulse throug the clo'th from one surface anisms that the present `i'venton "partit-;w th eof to the other; in order to `actuate the delar41' elat'n.` tectng mechrism l employ in accordance `'with t In -m prior [Patents Nos ;2,;321,431 eo the present nverition .an &atu-;thing impulse that clnseda method ;and varous appamtus npera fting o DaSS t r u clotha's h'eretofol'ei In t on the basic mn'oi ple'toftvnsmitting ta detectits "Preferred t n si I accompsh this in'g :or a-c'tuating impulse through the web itself through the use of a, photo-electrc cell cann'ing or though the path thereof :as !the 'seamzpa sses t e surface o tmVeng W at a y suitable pmcipledependngon thepnovs'onro-'anwaper- Vide lat e Seam to be pr tected or in tue vor equivalent trans nitting tdev 'ce pr t r'mm d Spac'ed re'lation jthere'to on 'the tmvehng web :at the 'seam :or in pred'eterm ined sur-'face of'tl'e cloth `zt spot, line, or a rea of `dit timecf a conti nuously actingimpms'e :t'en-dmg to soanned by the cell, .such that the ell wil l` react suspena :the %hearing section, the 'intervening t e a either a e or d c esedn :th oloth 'preventing the transmiss'ion o the fim light reac'hng itby :reflection-:mrom 'the surtaee puse "except through the' apetu es or &other 5 ofthetraveling weban d hus ehergizeanelectrimea/us :the cclot h. wOn-e embomm t :of thi cel circut actuating the 'devices automatically princi-pie, that inmy P-tent Naas z l z., ooms spending the 's' hewr n g momentariy; and pass bsed a, 'photo-eletrrc :bell momen *prevented the seem past the blades without inj-ury. from 'actm'g by being shieded trena ht :reys of refiecti ng area ectuating the ;cell canme either ae'tuat'ing intensi-ty by the oloth, but a'cfiing to 50 the seem itself, sewed with :thread 'flifferent cause the 'suspension :of the streaming operation light reecting power ontr s ing color.) *from when the *purposely :fo-mea iintemuhtionstnthe that of the surface of :the -cloth,` or respot `'or e clontmuty :of the loth edm-itted light rays to the s-trpe of paint or 'otherpi'gment or wa chami&mark.`

sa!? to mentale eperturesn :the t ave mg hreb at '55 adhesively m'- o'therwse, :and :located at\ mese-am 2 or in predetermined spaced relation thereto lengthwise of the cloth. 'I'hus no additions or changes have to be made in the way of slitting or punching attachments to the sewing machine used, at the risk of adding malfunctions or delay to the operation of seaming, while the manual marking of the cloth with pigment, paper stickwhile securing properly timed actuation of the shearlng-suspending mechanism.

As cloth shears commonly employ a plurality of pairs of blades shearing the cloth repeatedly in the course of its travel through the machine,

detector mechanisms of the type of the invention each independently controlling` the suspension of the shearing of a different blade assembLy areprovided at difierent points in the course of the cloth through a multi-blade shear.

,. An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, which is a diagrammatic side elevation of a single-bladed cloth shearing machine, showing electrically operatedblade-lifting 'devices and a photo-electric cell controllng the latter and actuated by reflection from the surface of the traveling cloth.

The drawing showsonly so much of the clothguiding and shearing parts of a standard Parks and Woolson single-bladed cloth-shear as is necessary for a complete understanding of the application of the invention thereto, some of the framework, guides, drives, and other familiar parts` of the' machine not concerned with the invention being omitted with the understanding that they are or may be 'as usual.

The course of the web I of cloth is as indicated by the arrows, being propelled through the machine by draft rolls 3, 5, and guided by numerous cloth rolls 1, 9, over beam ll, and thence over the cloth-rest !3, at the sharp edge of which the shearing `is effected by rotary helical blade |5 and cooperatlng'ledger blade ll. As usual, both blades are carried by a' swinging supporting structure termed the blade frame having brackets IS at each side of the machine 'and pivotally mounted by means of shaft ZI which rocks in journal boxes 23 adjustable up or frame 25 of the machine. This pivotal mounting enables the blades to be brought into or out of shearing relation' with the cloth as the latter passes around the acuteangle of the rest !3, and thus permits the blades to be lifted away from the cloth-rest to suspend the shearing, as in passing the seams, without need to check the rotation of the rotating blade !5. l Thereafter the cloth passes downwa-rd and around draft roll 5 and numerous guide `rolls to near floor level, when'ce it proceeds onward to a second or third shearing by devices substantially duplicating those here' shown( i i 'In accordance with the'invention, at a convenient point in the course of the cloth prior to its arrival at the cloth-rest !3, herein in the interv'al of the upward travel of the' web' between guide rolls 1 and 9, a photo-electric cell or "electrlc eye 21 with its relay are located at one side of the plane of the traveling web l, thecell being down on the situated close to the surface of the web and far enough in from the lateral margins thereo f to` be shielded by the cloth from all' light of suf ficient intensity to actuate the cell .except that reflected into it from the surface of the cloth.

A small Spotlight 38 or other light source of moderate intensity is mounted adjacent the cell 21 or in any 'convenient location, and arranged to illurninate the zone in the width of the cloth which is scanned by the cell. Preferably, the

axs of the beam and the axis of the cell are set thereof' which passes directly in front of the photo-electric cell 21 and is thus scannd by the cell, a spot of'pigment, paper or otherwise, herein illustrated as a paper sticker 29 adhesively attached and of exaggerated thickness for convenience of illustration in the View taken. It is applied in any desired spaced relation'to the seam 35 joining two consecutive cuts or pieces forming the otherwise contiruous web land as stated is app-lied before the joined `portions enter the cloth shear. u

Photo-electric cell unit 21 is connected by means of wires 28 witha source of low' voltage electric current 39 and a time delay relay 32 which latter acts following closing of this circuit through the described actuation of cell 21 to energizea solenoid 34-'with power from a higher-voltage source 35, such latter action oc curring after the lapse of a` period of time, determined by the setting of' the control knob on relay 32, s'ufficient to permit theseam 3l to approach to within an inch or two of the shearing point at the apex ofrest !3. This actuation of the solenoid 34 draws downward its armature 31 which is pivoted to a link 43 pivotally connected with a lever 38 fulcrumedon a bracket '39 on the frame 25 and having a pin Al! working a link M which in turn is pivotally connected' to the reduced eccentrically disposed extremity '42 of a pin 44 held in a clamping -bracket 46 fixed to bracket l'9`of the blade frame, thus rocking the blade frame about the axis of shaft ZI in a, direction lifting the rotating and ledger blades as a unit away from cloth-rest !3 to pass the seam.

r Adjustment of the angular positionof eccentric extremity 42 about the axis of' pin 44 varies the degree of lift of the blades away from clothrest !3, and thus affords one means of timing the length of jump of the blades in passing the seam; alternatively, a second time delay relay (not shown) similar to 32 is employed to break the power circuit to solenoid 34'established 'and in this case held by relay 32, the supplemental relay 'being set to open the power circuit and restore the blades to shearing position after the passage of the seam plus any desired length of cloth forming a suitable margin of safety. Likewise, control of`the voltage supplied to solenoid 34 is used in certain instances to vary the power of solenoid 34 and thus` to control the duration of the lift and the length of the jump in' passing the seam.

Application of the devices of the invention to multiple-bladed shears is effected by simply duplicating the means shown and described here: in for each shearing 'unit of the multiple shear,

in obvious manner. The present devices are equally applicable to shearsemploying gap-rests jnplace of the solid cloth-rest shown.

` tion as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown, or to the details of Construction thereof,

" but What I do claim is: i

1. In a cloth shear, in combination, means propelling, guiding, and shearing the cloth, a light-actuated elementnormally shielded from directlight rays of actuating intensity by the cloth, means applied to the cloth having different light-refiecting power, and means suspending the shearing operation and called into action by the` element through a variation in the amount of light refiected to the element from a surface in connection with the cloth as the first-named means passes the element. i v

2. In a cloth shear, in combination, means propelling, guiding, and shearing the cloth, means suspending the shearing operation to pass a seam in the cloth, means responding to a change in the amount of light reflected by a surface in cong face in connection with the cloth by actuating the shearing-suspending means, and means applied to the cloth having different light-reflecting power to effect such change.

4. In a cloth shear, in combination, means propelling, guiding, and shearng the cloth, means suspending the shearing operation to pass a seam in the cloth, means determining the moment of initiation of the suspension of shearing by such means including a photo-electric cell actuated by a change in the amount of light reflected from a surface in connection with the cloth, and means applied to the cloth having different light-reflecting power to effect such change.

5. In a cloth shear, in combination, means propelling, guiding, and shearing the cloth, means suspending the shearing operation to pass a seam in the cloth, a photo-electric cell scanning the surface of the cloth and calling the shearingsuspending means into action in response to a change in the amount of light refiected to the cell from a surface in connection with the cloth, means illuminating the zone of the width of the cloth scanned by' the photo-electric cell, and means applied to the cloth having different lightreflecting power to effect such change.

6. In a cloth shear, in combination, means propelling, guiding, and shearing the cloth, means suspending the shearing operation to pass a seam in the cloth, a photo-electric cell actuated by a change in the amount of light refiected from a surface inconnection with the cloth and itself actuating the shearing-suspending means, means applied to the cloth having different light-reflectng power to effect such change, and time delay means intervening between the cell and the shearing-suspending means.

7. In a cloth shear, in combination,` means` propelling, guiding, and shearing the cloth, bladelifting means including an electric magnet, a time-delay device controlling the energizing of the magnet, light-actuated means responding to a change in the amount of light refiected from a surface in connection with the cloth by actuating the time-delay device, means applied to 'the cloth having different light-reflecting power to eifect such change, and means illuminating the said surface.

WILFRED N. HADLEY. 

